International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said efforts to facilitate the repair of the 330 kV back-up Ferosplavnaya-1 power line at the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) are ongoing. This followed the discovery of additional damage to the line after the successful reconnection of the damaged 750 kV Dneprovskaya line plant to Ukraine’s power grid.
During repair work to restore off-site power to the plant – ending a full month without external electricity – the IAEA confirmed the detection of additional damage to the Ferosplavnaya-1 line located about 1.8 kilometres from the Zaporizhia Thermal Power Plant’s switchyard.
IAEA said negotiation efforts are now focused on the full restoration of the Ferosplavna-1 power line, one of ten lines the ZNPP had access to prior to the conflict. This line, along with the recently restored Dneprovskaya line, was one of the two remaining lines used by the plant. Ferosplavna-1 was lost on 7 May, while the Dneprovskaya line was disconnected on 23 September. Both sides attributed the damage to ongoing military activity in the region.
“We continue to work intensively to support the conditions needed for this additional repair work to begin. Restoring this power line is essential to improving the fragile nuclear safety and security situation at the site,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Although the plant’s six reactors have been shut down for more than three years and are not generating electricity, they still require a stable power supply to operate essential safety systems, including cooling pumps and other nuclear safety and security equipment. Over the past month, these systems were powered by emergency diesel generators, underscoring the plant’s continued vulnerability amid the conflict.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organisations in Vienna, told RIA Novosti that repair work on the Ferosplavnaya-1 line may be completed around mid-November. “As for the Ferosplavnaya-1 line, the repair work is not yet complete. According to all indications, it will be completed around mid-November,” he said.
However, he added that there is no guarantee that Ukraine will not resume shelling of the ZNPP power lines. “I would like to hope that the power lines will not be the target of any further shelling, although there are no guarantees in this regard. At the moment, there are no negotiations underway to ensure the electricity supply to the Zaporizhia NPP,” he said. He noted that the IAEA had played a key role in reaching an agreement on a local ceasefire to restore power supply to the plant.
